The appearance of Boba Fett in The Mandalorian season two was a welcome yet surprising return. After all, the last time Star Wars fans had seen the bounty hunter was when he unceremoniously fell into a Sarlacc pit in Return of the Jedi. Now, the opening episode of his own spin-off series, directed by showrunner Robert Rodriguez and written by Jon Favreau, takes a pensive approach to fill in the gaps of Fett’s past. However, it does slow the pace and gets in the way of moving Boba Fett’s story forward in the present.
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In that brilliant second season, the nods to the original trilogy, obligatory since the events occur after the end of Return of the Jedi, came in the form of two cameos. The most important is Boba Fett, the bounty hunter who put Han Solo in a carbonite plate and who, supposedly, died in the mouth of a Sarlaac inEpisode VI. His arrival in the Mandalorian universe worked, and Disney did not miss the opportunity to give him a new series just for him.
This was a smart move, as the character of Boba Fett is known to the old guard of Star Wars fans, but not so much to the new generations, and he has never been a character who's history has been explored deeply in the movies or series, we didn't know much about where he came from or where he was going. Despite this, Jon Favreau, once again taking over as showrunner of The Book of Boba Fett, the second original series of the Star Wars universe on Disney + that premiered its first episode this Wednesday, December 29, managed to make us fall in love again with this universe but not without a couple of misses.
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This is how the flashbacks begin to inform the more practical bounty hunter we see today. Tusken Raiders had captured Fett after his Sarlacc escape but he soon earned their respect by protecting one of their younger members from a Goro-looking beast rising up from the sand in ferocious fashion. It’s a short and sweet bit of action that gives a fun nod to the way Princess Leila killed Jabba on the desert planet and showcases the brute strength, quick thinking and heroism of Fett. But, as we know from The Mandalorian Season 2 opener, these nomadic people are far less barbaric than the prequel series painted them. Their qualities of loyalty, bravery and respect are those Fett hopes to be known for. He doesn’t want to follow the slimy trail of the Hutt clan, with their airs of superiority and torturous conduct. “I’m not being carried around the streets like a useless noble,” he tells Shand as they head to a cantina called The Sanctuary. “Jabba ruled with fear. I intend to rule with respect.”
Of course, the people of Mos Espa are creatures of habit and this attitude is seen as a weakness rather than a strength. An attack on the streets by ninja-looking assassins tests their authority as they’re kettled in by laser shields and spears. It’s a tightly delivered street fight, and our antiheroes take a fair few knocks before Fett gets to blast someone with his arm rockets and Shand flexes her muscles with a short-but-dynamic parkour chase across roofs to secure an assailant alive for questioning. Jabba’s former pig-looking guards, the Gamorreans, also get a chance to prove to their new boss their lives were worth saving.
Wen shines as the cunning enforcer and martial artist who will hopefully have her skillset challenged with more formidable fight choreography. She delivers her lines with ruthless indifference but her deference to Fett can be keenly felt. The bounty hunter has been long seen as the more stoic character but Shand is playing that role now and it works well against Fett’s more pragmatic command.
There’s almost a world weariness to Morrison’s depiction of a man that has been through the ringer and onto a redemptive path with a more idealistic outlook. The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch proved just how three-dimensional a Jango clone could be, whose personality was informed by their individual experience. Morrison’s grounded delivery and dry humour fleshes out a formerly unreadable character.
The same can be said of Ludwig Goransson’s score, first heard in “The Tragedy” episode of The Mandalorian, directed by Rodriguez, and delivered in this series with a guttural, primal blend of human voices, powerful drum beats and strings. As a New Zealander of Maori descent, Morrison’s influence seems to have expanded the diversity of the Star Wars beyond the aesthetic and into the symphonic.
Dedicating so much to Fett’s backstory certainly deepens our understanding of his character evolution but that means plot development is limited. There aren’t many wow moments; the fight sequences are restrained and not as elegant as previously seen in the legacy sequels and The Mandalorian, but the introduction of a potential ally in the form of Twi'lek Madam Garsa Fwip (Jennifer Beals) does add intrigue. “Stranger in a Strange Land” is a fun and assured opener teasing even more obstacles and threats Fett will face in order to consolidate power while reinforcing the legend of Morrison’s iconic bounty hunter.
In short, this first episode of The Book of Boba Fett lacks the epicness one would expect from the character, but it also deserves a vote of confidence, we want to see where its creators want to go, what they want to tell and if they have something new to offer or just want to exploit the nostalgia The Mandalorian and the Star Wars universe have to offer.
New episodes available every Wednesday on Disney+.
